


Old Hope

by ObsessedScribe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Flashbacks, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Canon Compliant, Not Canon Compliant - Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Original Character(s), POV Original Female Character, POV Poe Dameron, Past, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pre-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Resistance Era, True Love, X-Wing(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 12:47:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17366111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessedScribe/pseuds/ObsessedScribe
Summary: Poe's been captured by the First Order and it's up to Isla to bring him home. Will their allegiance to the Resistance hold through the trials against the enemy? The two must navigate their past past and present for any hope of a future. Poe Dameron/Original Female Character.





	1. Chapter 1

**B** lackness, dotted with gleaming stars, stretched out above the hut where the most daring pilot in the galaxy was about to change the tides in the fight against the First Order.

He looked up.

Something else, something other than stars, flickered overhead ominously. Lights of a ship.

Correction—ships.

Poe Dameron looked back at Lor San Tekka. "We've got company," Poe said to the old man as he stared out at the enemy before them. "You have to hide."

"You have to leave" was the only response he received.

Poe gestured for him to follow, but the man refused silently. Poe nodded. There wasn't time to argue. Boots were on the ground.

He and BB-8 raced through the night.

 _Just get to the X-Wing_ , Poe willed himself.

Piloting the fighter gave him the greatest sense of control—control that he desperately needed to regain if he was going to get the hell off that desert rock. He climbed up the ladder but hadn't been quick enough. The First Order had seen his ship and fired right into the back of it. Poe's thoughts shifted quickly. He had the gun. He had the knife.

He had…

He had no chance.

Shots went off in Poe's direction and he struggled for cover, slipping his hand underneath his collar to clasp the silver ring that dangled from a chain around his neck. He gave it a squeeze before firing back wildly in an attempt to buy himself some time. There wouldn't be much. Flames were eating up the back of his ship. Hastily, he tucked the map into BB-8's secret compartment and instructed him to leave the village.

"I'll come back for you," he shouted at the little droid. BB-8 beeped doubtfully as he rolled across the sand.

Poe leaned against the side of his ship, positioning himself for a couple of quick shots. Ahead of him, Stormtroopers tore the village apart, burning it to the ground and destroying anything and everything in its path. Villagers scrambled all around as a larger ship prepared to land. Something more treacherous was ahead.

 _Think, Dameron_.

There was nowhere to hide. Troopers would be over soon enough to inspect the area. Poe certainly wouldn't be returning to the Resistance base any time soon. If ever.

A cloaked figure emerged from the shuttle, shrouded in smoke and debris. Force-sensitive or not, the man's presence could be felt immediately. Poe shivered, unable to tear his eyes away. So this was Kylo Ren. The man—the monster—who wanted the map as much as the Resistance did. Poe had only heard of his reputation, but had never come face-to-face. For that, he had always counted himself lucky.

Oh, how his luck was changing.

An exchange passed between Ren and Lor San Tekka.

Something had to be done, regardless of how futile. He thought of Isla, his beautiful Isla. She was scrappy as hell, and if he was going to die, he wanted to make her proud.

Poe fired off a shot, preparing himself to go down in a fight. The chance, however, never came. Within seconds Poe's body was immediately immobile, his eyes only able to stare ahead as the blue blaster ray hovered in front of his face. Then they grabbed him. Troopers dragged Poe forward and pushed him to the ground in front of their leader, who merely knelt down in silence. Poe's senses were going haywire in anticipation, adrenaline coursing through his body. Would he soon feel the crackling burn of the gleaming cross saber on his flesh? He stared at the mask.

"So who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?"

"The old man gave it you."

"It's just very hard to understand you with all the—"

"Search him!" Ren ordered.

The troopers yanked Poe to his feet and roughly patted him down.

"—apparatus."

When they came up empty-handed, Ren ordered Poe be taken aboard his ship. Poe knew that torture was inevitable, but he still had some time. Not much, but some.

The door closed behind them as the screams of the villagers roared in his ears.

* * *

 

 **S** he waited with baited breath, mindlessly twisting the silver band around her finger until it wrung red burns into her skin. Some skin around it had begun to peel. Isla wasn't even the one to notice; Snap Wexley, the pilot sitting next to her, not-so-subtly yanked her hands apart and shot her a warning look. She didn't acknowledge him and instead continued fiddling with the ring. Snap had become a brother to her over the years—a big, bear-like brother who was possibly the only person in the galaxy whose affection for Poe rivaled her own.

They were anticipating Commander Dameron's transmission to notify the base of his return, but it had been hours. A delay like this was completely out of character for him. The first hour passed without much of a fuss; it could've been a timing issue, or maybe he had made an emergency stop to refuel. Whatever it was, Isla waited through it with several others as if everything was going according to plan. But somewhere during hour two, Isla couldn't help but notice the look General Organa had given Admiral Akbar. It was subtle, as Leia was nothing if not professional and tactful, but it was a look of deep concern nonetheless.

It made her antsy.

By hour six, she'd lost all feeling in her body.

Looking down at her hands, Isla finally let go of the ring. She fidgeted with it so often during times like this that the once somewhat polished surface had been worn down until it looked like a dull piece of scrap metal. It had been his mother's, the famous Shara Bey. It'd hung around his neck since her passing and one day, in the middle of a particularly grueling mission, he said that he wanted Isla to wear it. Isla, listening on the other end of the comm (along with the rest of the on-base personnel), had closed her eyes to focus on his face rather than the fact that they'd probably both be dead soon and eagerly obliged.

To her utter astonishment, though, they kept surviving. Endless battles, hundreds of close calls—they survived. So they were quietly wed by none other than General Organa herself. Snap and his gal, Karé Kun, were the only guests (and witnesses). They celebrated afterward with several rounds of drinks outside the hangar. Isla couldn't remember seeing Poe happier. Her chest tightened just thinking of his smile.

The skin Isla had been peeling from around her fingernails since she'd been summoned to the control room formed into small scabs, which she now picked until they bled. Crimson beads dotted several of her fingers and she discreetly wiped them on her brown fatigues. Nobody aside from Snap noticed her movements; all eyes were fixated on the young ensigns who tracked communications.

As hard as she tried to fight reminiscing—because to her, reminiscing meant that nothing else was left to look forward to—Isla remembered when she'd first met Poe. He'd been a young, cocky pilot for the New Republic. She'd been young and aimless. Poe hadn't known what he was getting himself into when he'd walked into her shop—well, the shop she had procured temporarily. It _may_ have been one of the fronts for the floundering revival of the Corellian Run Scoundrels.

Keirrian had sent him there. Blasted Keirrian. The woman had caught Isla slicing into the factory's financial database to transfer some credits, and, after some thoughtful persuasion, she'd taken the then teenager under her wing. The people Isla had considered to be her parents were in prison, so she had nothing to lose. Isla had always been opportunistic. It was the first method of survival.

"General," a young, red-headed officer looked over her shoulder.

The entire room was startled into position.

"We've just intercepted a transmission from the First Order."

Leia moved swiftly over to the monitor and spoke softly with the young woman, her face grim. Then she turned away to steal a click to herself before addressing the room.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," she announced. "The Jakku village has been destroyed."

Some officers sat up abruptly. Others in the room gasped. Isla held her breath as heart plummeted.

"We've lost Lor San Tekka." Her dark eyes flicked over to Isla. "Commander Dameron has been taken prisoner. We do not yet know his location, but we can assume he's been taken aboard The Finalizer for interrogation. We will be discussing an extraction plan shortly, but we need to consider things carefully, as we have no way of knowing what happened to the map. Based on the message we just received, we know the First Order does not possess it."

Hushed voices floated around the room. Isla remained unblinkingly fixated on Leia.

"Let's hope they don't get too much information out of him," Leia added somewhat mindlessly as she sunk into her chair, staring ahead with empty eyes. As Isla sat for a moment longer, running over every possible scenario in her mind. Tears began pooling in her green eyes, and she suddenly felt suffocated. The First Order didn't play games. General Hux, as agitating as he was, knew how to inflict pain.

Isla shook her head hastily, blinking away the extra moisture as anger filled her and her hands began to shake. Poe had caught her off guard back when they'd first met. Jaded as she was, the sight of him standing there had made her heart stop for a moment. She wasn't immune to his dark features and charming smile, because she could recognize an incredibly attractive person when she saw one, but she'd be lying if she said his earnestness and conviction—his spirit—weren't part of the equation. They were opposites (or so they thought). He sought answers. She turned from them. Live free, don't join was something she'd been told once and she had always, always lived by it. He had been the one to make her think about the possibility of believing in something for the first time in her entire life. He'd set her on this kriffing path and he was a part of her story whether or not they had known it then.

She would not leave him like this.

"This is why you should have sent me with him." Her voice came out as a snarl as she slammed her hands down onto the table.

"You didn't karking listen to me!"

The room fell silent as everyone turned to stare, mouths agape. C-3PO made some comment about uncivilized Corellians. Beside her, Snap bowed his head and rubbed his temples.

"I told you that this mission was too dangerous for him to go alone."

"Lieutenant Dameron." Admiral Ackbar stood up. "We made that decision based on the information we had at the time. We had no reason to suspect something like this would happen—"

"But I told you—all the intel we've received—on top of our own kriffing experience—indicates that the First Order has spies everywhere." She pointed a finger. "Nobody should be going on solo assignments—nobody!"

Arguments erupted all over the room. Some agreed with Isla. Some called for her suspension.

"Everyone!" Leia wasn't going to put up with the commotion for long.

"As I just said, we will begin to discuss an extraction plan shortly. However, right now I would like everyone to clear this room immediately and reconvene in ten minutes. It's been a long day for all of us—get some air."

Isla was irate as she stood, shoving her chair into the table so hard that it wobbled. She would get to Poe if she had to commandeer a ship.

"Lieutenant Dameron, please stay a moment."

* * *

 

 **P** oe was being taken off-world to another ship, maybe even to the First Order's base. He really couldn't be sure, as he found himself falling in and out of consciousness after receiving another blow to the head. His brain felt clouded and swollen.

By the time they reached their destination, Poe could hardly keep his balance. He could feel a warm, sticky spot on his forehead and knew that if he could reach up to touch it, his fingers would come away covered in blood.

It took six guards to haul him into the interrogation room. The minute they walked him off the shuttle, he had looked around and realized what a predicament he was in. Then he fought hard, railing against anyone who came close. He refused to give up. The troopers quickly stunned him and dragged him to his feet to march him down a sterile hallway.

If he died, would anyone feel his presence leaving the Force? Would Isla read it in Leia's eyes?

Of course she would. Isla didn't miss a single thing. She saw every detail, every scenario. He had always admired that ability. He tended to focus on the now, but she always saw the bigger picture.

Had he told her enough how much he loved her?

The guards spent about an hour with Poe, leaving him in a pulp. They'd demanded to know his name and where the map had been taken, both of which he withheld defiantly. Poe's body felt weak, as if it would drop to the floor the moment his restraints were removed. He took a few deep breaths, but that only caused him more pain.

The moment General Hux appeared, however, Poe caught a second wind. Hux hadn't the slightest idea why the Resistance pilot suddenly came to life with a wild fury upon seeing his face, but he was enjoying it—Poe could tell. He watched the General pace around with a smug expression. Poe's chest ached, his pulse quickening as he imagined Hux in any proximity to Isla. Touching her. Hurting her. Poe lunged Hux, but he was immediately (and forcefully) reminded that he was shackled. That kriffing bastard. If he ever got the shot, Poe would kill him and he would take the utmost pleasure in doing so.

Hux apparently felt the same way about him. When he was finished, Poe was positive that his nose was broken and wagered he might have a cracked rib or two. His eyes were swollen, probably past the point of recognition, and the coppery taste of the blood streaming from his nose and his lips burnt his throat as he swallowed it. None of that mattered though—he still hadn't given up any information. The map and the Resistance—and therefore Isla—were safe. Poe felt nauseous with defeat, but he'd rather die with that than with the feeling of betrayal.

He'd just passed his thirty-fifth year. This wasn't enough time. He had plans. He'd always thought he'd be in military service for life, despite how much he wanted to settle down like his parents had. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine finding Isla. And then he had, and he was suddenly fighting for their future.

* * *

 

_**S** mog from the factory hung thickly in a low cloud all throughout the city. _

_Poe's instinct was to pull the front of his jacket up over his nose and mouth, but that would make him easily detectable as an outsider. Poe, without Rapier Squadron, had been sent to Corellia to investigate the dramatic increase in the planet's primary export—starships. Of course, the assignment was more of a formality since the government wasn't too enthusiastic about creating conflict with the biggest anti-Republic group. His commanding officer was most certainly expecting that Poe would return empty-handed. Any records indicating the planet was building a fleet of starships for anyone other than the Republic would be well hidden. The Republic was plainly unwilling to see what was right in front of its nose. The First Order was dangerous, regardless of the Republic's statements that it was not a "credible threat to galactic peace."_ _Poe had lost too many good pilots in rogue attacks. He felt that a preemptive airstrike would do more good then silly investigations like the one he'd been assigned, but the Republic demanded concrete proof._

_"_ _Kriffing waste of time," Poe muttered as he looked up at the neon sign that was missing some of its letters._

_It flickered "RPARS—AL KNDS."_ _The shop was wedged in between a drab cantina and a dilapidated, vacant Noodle Bar._

_Just as he expected, he wasn't able to prove a damned thing from his visit to the factory. The logs were clean-all shipments accounted for. He'd been about to leave the lot when an employee slipped a cryptic message into his hand. All it read was "black hole." There was a tiny notation in the corner, but the symbol meant nothing to Poe until he was heading back to his ship. Across the way he spotted a light-up graphic of a black hole in the window of a computer shop. The woman was sending him to a slicer._

_Part of Poe felt like chasing down a slicer would be an even bigger waste of his time than his efforts of the last three hours had been, but he didn't want to go back to base without something, anything. Imagining the look of utter shock on his commander's face when he showed up with actual incriminating intel was too thrilling, so he sighed and pushed on._

_A bell chimed weakly overhead as he stepped cautiously through the door. The wide room was dark and musty, crammed floor-to-ceiling with fraying wires and various technological odds and ends. He noticed a corner filled with spare droid parts. As he looked around, he spotted a long braid of white-blonde hair sticking out from the doorway at the end of a narrow hallway behind the counter. The woman it was attached to was in the process of tucking a blaster into the waistband of her pants. Poe instinctively reached for his own weapon, the adrenaline coursing through his veins a welcome feeling._

_He hadn't expected things to take any kind of dramatic turn._

_"We're closed!" A raspy, but feminine, voice called out to him as he slowly stepped forward._

_Poe tried to get a better a look through the sliver of an open door the woman was standing in front of. It was filled with the kind of crates that were out of place in a shop like this one—shipping crates._

Maybe this will be more fun than I thought _, he said to himself as he inhaled deeply before proceeding._

_He wondered whether the crates were filled with spices or weapons._

_"I'm just looking for some information," he answered, peering around for another body or any kind of surveillance system._

_They were alone._

_The woman's right hand lingered close to her side as she swiftly approached the wide counter. She blew loose hair out of her face with a single puff as she looked at Poe. Her eyes—the color of the jungles of his homeworld—lingered on his for a beat. Poe was unexpectedly and completely stunned. The woman was about two or three years his junior._

_That, and she was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Was she the slicer?_

_"Like I said, we're closed. City Bureau is a few blocks over. They'll help you find your way."_

_"Uh." He blinked, momentarily forgetting what had brought him there. Then he shook his head. "No, that's not quite the situation."_

_He slid the piece of paper onto the counter. The woman glanced at it, her eyes narrowing suspiciously._

_"_ _Who gave this to you?" Poe shrugged. "A woman at the factory across the street."_

_She pinched the bridge of her nose. Her fingers, long and thin, were calloused._

_"She know you're Navy?" she asked, making no effort to conceal her irritation._

_She looked Poe up and down._

_"I don't…" Poe shook his head. He thought he'd dressed casually enough to blend in. He hadn't even flown a marked ship. "How did you—?"_

_"Your posture," she answered flippantly._

_Her tone may have been dismissive, but her brow creased as she casually glanced over her shoulder at the storage room a few beats later. Poe slouched a little, adjusting his shoulders several different ways while her eyes were off of him. His roguish pride was slightly wounded, but he was intrigued._

_She braced the counter and looked him in the eye. This woman wasn't in the mood to mess around. Poe squared his shoulders in an attempt to radiate a similar vibe as he placed his own palms on the counter._

_"Are you going to help me or not?"_

_The woman's eyebrows arched as her hands planted themselves firmly on her hips._

_"Were you followed?"_

_He looked around._

_"I don't think so. Why would anyone follow me here?"_

_Had he landed in the hot bed of crime on Corellia?_

_"I need to get paid."_

_"Pride in doing your civic duty isn't enough?"_

_"_ _No," she responded bluntly._

_"Now if you'll excuse me—"_

_"You know," Poe interrupted, biting his lip. "I've got a pretty good guess of what you're hiding in that back room. That and the fact that you're a slicer could be enough for me to bring you in."_

_The young woman's eyes narrowed into slits and she stuck her chin up defiantly._

_"Your people OK with blackmail?"_

_He merely shrugged._

_After a brief stare down, which Poe actually wasn't confident at all he would win, she sighed._

_"So if I promise not to stun you—or worse—and I get you what you need, you'll leave me alone after this?"_

_"_ _I'm a man of my word."_

_The woman gave him another once-over with incredible scrutiny, looking for the smallest detail in his face that could expose his dishonesty. Poe saw a flicker of approval in her eyes. She had either detected his sincerity or was just appreciating his appearance._

_While Poe wondered which of the two choices it was (maybe both?), she slunk off toward the back of shop with the movements of a Nexus. When she sensed he wasn't following her, she looked back at him and jerked her head toward a set of stairs._

_"You coming or not?" Poe suppressed a smile and nodded curtly._

_He was insanely attracted to her._

_They trekked up a small, iron-wrought spiral staircase that lead them to an attic room filled with additional computer equipment. Poe's pulse quickened with each step. He was not distracted by the woman's hips or her strong legs—he was merely thinking about how this day was shaping up to be a much more interesting than he had anticipated. Yes, he was thinking about how fortunate he was to get this lead._

_"So…" Poe began, no longer bothering to hide who truly held the upper hand in this new relationship (her)._

_"Do I get a name?"_

_The woman shook her head, not bothering to turn around._

_"Unimportant."_

_"OK then."_

_He nodded, feeling the corner of his lips turn upward as he watched her get to work in front of a large computer. The glow of the screen lit up her already radiant hair. She looked over her shoulder at him, catching his eyes on her, and raised an eyebrow. As she turned back to the computer, Poe swore he saw a smile on her lips._

_..._

_After a half hour or so had passed in almost complete silence—the exception being the sound of the keyboard—the woman asked Poe if he had anything she could store the files on._

_"That was fast," he said as he fished around for the small drive he always kept on his person._

_"_ _Have you given this information out before?" She nodded silently, lips pursed as her eyes scanned the screen._

_Poe looked at her, holding out the drive between his thumb and forefinger._

_"_ _What? To who?"_

_The woman smiled crookedly as she plugged the drive into the side of the machine._

_"Calm down, buddy." Her eyes moved across the screen as she spoke._

_"I think the guy was with the Princess' group."_

_He turned that bit of information over in his mind as he continued to watch her._

_"The Resistance has this information?"_

_He knew he was onto something._

_She ignored the question and announced that the upload wouldn't be complete for another forty minutes or so, Poe attempted to make idle chitchat. Maybe if she warmed up to him, she'd give him a little more information about her clientele. Besides, he really wanted to know her name._

_"So," he began. "How long have you been doing this?"_

_"My entire life."_

_"You've been slicing your entire life?" Poe looked on incredulously._

_"Slicing, smuggling, stealing…" Her tone was detached. She was hardly paying him any mind._

_"How old are you?"_

_The woman looked up, amused._

_"Another unimportant detail."_

_Poe held up his hands apologetically, but smiled._

_"I meant it as a compliment."_

_She studied him for a moment. "_

_Well, you know what they say," Poe gambled._

_He smiled as the woman raised her dark eyebrows in anticipation._

_"Opposites attract."_

_She laughed, more boisterous this time, as she turned back to the screen._

_"Should be ready soon."_

_"Are you really not going to tell me your name?" Poe asked. "You're doing me a favor—I'm not going to turn you in. You have my word."_

_The woman reclined in her chair, assessing him with a sly smile._

_"I'm sure it's a beautiful name," he goaded._

_She rolled her eyes, but kept smiling. Suddenly, a sound from below shook them both from their flirtation. The woman jumped up and rushed to the slats covering the window._

_"Shit," she murmured as she peered out._

_"What?" Poe was standing beside her after one or two strides._

_"Who is that?"_

_"Who do you think?" She responded irritably as she began moving about the room, grabbing small items (and some weapons) and tossing them into a bag._

_"I thought you said you weren't followed."_

_"Is that—" Poe cautiously peered out for a better look. "Is that the First Order?"_

_She nodded, chewing on her lip as the pounding on the door continued._

_"How can you tell?"_

_"I've dealt with them before." Her tone changed. Fear had replaced any bravado "They send their men out in plain clothes—it's too early for them to come off as bullies."_

_"How'd you know I wasn't with them?"_

_"We don't have time for this. We have to get out of here."_

_"What about the files—they're not done uploading."_

_"Are they worth your life?"_

_"What? Are you serious? It's only a couple of men out there."_

_She ripped the drive out of the computer at 45 percent._

_"Trust me," she said as she thrust it into his hands. "I'm leaving. You should too."_

_Poe followed her down a fire escape that emptied out in the back of the building._

_"You should get back to your ship," she warned. "Don't be a hero right now. They'll be out here any minute."_

_"I wouldn't—"_

_"Oh come on, man," she sighed. "It's written all over your face. Get out of here."_

_He could hear the men breaking down the front door as they both jumped the last ten feet into the alleyway. Poe's head was reeling. Things had escalated so quickly._

_"It's too bad," he said as he double-checked his pocket for the drive. "I was thinking we could get a drink down the street."_

_She smiled crookedly._

_"Maybe next time."_

_Without waiting for a response, she turned sharply and took off. Poe, not knowing quite what else to do, followed suite. He glanced back quickly over his shoulder to watch her flee. This woman may have possibly given him information that would change everything and he'd never be able to thank her for it._

_..._

_He returned to base the next afternoon with no more than what he'd left with. The data on the drive had been corrupted, probably from lack of completion. He explained everything to his commanding officer, who insisted that the First Order wasn't a gang of thugs who would go around breaking down doors and chasing people out into the street. Poe, infuriated, had stormed off to his living quarters and gotten completely shit-faced._

_Seven months later, Poe was recruited by the Resistance._

* * *

 

 **P** oe's vision blurred briefly and he felt his stomach roll uncontrollably. Whether it was from the memory or his broken body, he wasn't sure—both were incredibly painful.

Vomit spewed from his mouth—mostly blood and bile. At least he was able to turn his head to the side in time so he could die without the contents of stomach dried all over his chest.

Kylo Ren entered the holding cell swiftly. Poe looked up.

"I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance onboard," he mocked. "Comfortable?"

"Not really."

"I'm impressed. No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map."

"Might wanna' rethink your technique."

Ren reached toward Poe but stopped short of touching him. Poe flinched and found himself in sudden agony. He felt Ren sifting through his brain, picking apart any memories that were easily available on the surface. Of course, the only thing on his mind at that point had been Isla. He was never going to see her again. Never hold her, kiss her. Never—Poe's thoughts suddenly shifted. Isla.

Hux could find her and it would all be because of him. Beads of sweat formed on Poe's forehead as he felt Ren pause on these thoughts.

He was so close that Poe could almost feel the coolness of the metal against his nose. He stared into the empty eyes of his mask. Poe fought, flooding his thoughts with insignificant memories that wouldn't betray Resistance information—the home he grew up in, random flashes of his childhood, the flight academy, flying for the New Republic. His resolve was slipping though. Any moment now and he would begin begging for his life.

"Where is it?"

"The Resistance will not be intimidated by you," he ground out through clenched teeth.

"Where…is it?"

The full weight of the Force swiftly bore down onto Poe. His body shook as he struggled to maintain his composure. Before he could stop himself, Poe cried out in anguish. His mind—his body—couldn't take it any longer. Ren's anger had sent a wave of pain through him that made him feel as if every bone in his body, down to his toes, had been shattered. Kylo Ren had gotten exactly what he'd come for.

...

"So it seems we have more than one mutual acquaintance," he murmured mechanically as he was about to leave the cell.

Poe couldn't do more than tilt his head, his eyes half closed. His voice was hardly a whisper.

"You won't find her."

"I wouldn't be so sure."


	2. Chapter 2

**L** eia's expression was pained, but Isla still glared at her. She'd been angry for the better half of her life, and those emotions, however tampered, easily bubbled up to the surface in a fiery rage.

"Isla."

Silently, she straightened up, eyes never wavering.

"We're not going to leave him there." Leia locked her gaze on Isla for a moment before briefly looking at some random monitors.

Isla sensed she wasn't finished.

"But at this point we have no intel on where they could've taken him. As big as it may be, the Finalizer is hard to pin down and even harder to infiltrate. We've only done it once before, but that was...before. We have to think about the map."

 _Damn the map_ , Isla wanted to shout.

"General—" Inhaling sharply, Isla stretched her hand out to steady herself on the back of her chair. She felt light-headed.

"I know all of this can be very difficult to hear," Leia paused. "Which is why I ask that you leave the meeting."

"No." Isla stood up straighter, feeling her limbs begin to shake again. "No."

"Isla—please. Go calm down for a while. If you don't, you're going to make some rash decisions. You will be debriefed on the plan as soon as we have one."

Leia reached out to Isla, resting her hands on the younger woman's forearms before pulling her into a warm embrace. Isla stiffened, too angry with this woman, who had become so much like a mother to her, to appreciate that Leia was only thinking of her well being.

"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but we have to think of the larger—" Leia was trying to chose her words carefully, but she wasn't able to finish the thought.

Isla turned tightly and calmly walked out of the Control Room, ignoring the Leia's apologies. Once the open air hit her lungs, she began to sprint to the barracks until she reached their small living quarters. She flung the door open and rushed inside as tears streamed down her face.

Isla needed to pull herself together. That, and a really strong drink. She fumbled around in the trunk at the foot of their bed for the bottle of Cheedoan whiskey. After hastily unscrewing the cap, she took a sloppy, frantic swig. Some of it dripped onto her uniform.

Isla had heard of Kylo Ren, and while the thought of Poe being held at his mercy didn't exactly sit well, she was worried about someone else.

When she closed her eyes, she could feel his breath on her skin as he stroked her cheek.

* * *

**_F_ ** _orging clearance codes._

_That's what the First Order charged her with when they'd pulled her out of the bar across the street from the main Corellian spaceport and arrested her. People wanted out from under the First Order's thumb and they were willing to do whatever it took. Of course, when they went down, they took Isla with them. Cowards. While it was true that she had no real allegiance, she wasn't a snitch._

_Isla refused to go quietly, and because of her actions, she spent her first two months in solitary confinement._

_Upon her release into gen pop, she'd been able to catch a tiny sliver of moonlight before being dragged into a sterile, windowless interrogation room. Her records, she was told, were of some interest to the First Order. She could be of use in more important efforts. Isla weighed her options as the man who had introduced himself as General Hux watched her from the across the table with a pinched expression. She disliked him instantly._

_Isla knew her chances of ending up dead either way were pretty strong, but if she agreed, it might buy her enough time to figure out her next move. If she worked quickly. So she nodded in affirmation, the early workings of a plan already forming in her mind._

_Hux's lips curled into a smug smile as he rose to his feet._

" _Excellent." He stepped toward Isla, reaching out to stroke the side of her face with an air of entitlement. She recoiled, but he didn't seem to mind. "I think you'll find that we can actually be quite hospitable toward our own."_

_On that, Hux's statement was somewhat correct. His particular fondness for Isla served her well, for the most part. Under his watch, she was given slightly more leeway than other prisoners. She didn't have her own cell, but the one she was moved into was much nicer than what she'd become used to—hell, it was nicer than any place she'd lived since her teens._

_Her roommate was a young Zeltron nurse who had been charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive. All she had done was treat a patient who happened to be a rebel. While the First Order was disgusted with her, Tendra was quite adept in the field of medicine so they kept her around in case they needed her._

_Each woman was given regular [monitored] bathing privileges, as well as semi-decent food. Isla knew this generosity wouldn't come without a price, but so far it hadn't been named._

_One morning, she was marched out her cell and into the control room that contained—by far—the nicest equipment Isla had ever laid eyes on. If the First Order could afford this, they could certainly afford a better slicer than she. But Isla did what she was told, ready for her opportunity._

_They wanted her to break Resistance code. Every transmission they'd been able to get their hands on was heavily, heavily encrypted._

_Isla's stomach dropped. This was nothing. She'd be dead in a month._

" _Best to hurry," Hux said into her ear as he gripped Isla's shoulder. "This is time-sensitive material."_

_Isla knew what she had to do._

_To Hux's satisfaction, Isla had decrypted the transmissions within a few days. Isla tried her damndest to stretch it out, but it was too easy. The information, however, was sparse. The Resistance was looking for a map, but what the map lead to hadn't been disclosed. This relieved Isla a little—she'd done what had been asked of her, but it hadn't made a difference. It meant that she was still needed._

_She was laying in her cell one night when the Navy pilot from Corellia crossed her mind. She wasn't sure why, exactly. It had been years since their encounter. He was ready to be a hero, but his earnestness had struck her. Isla was positive he'd been recruited into the Resistance by this point—if not recruited, he surely had joined on his own volition. She wasn't necessarily gambling on it, but maybe it could help her out once she got things rolling._

_..._

_Throughout the following weeks, Hux would convince himself that Isla wasn't being truthful—that she was hiding something. Hux didn't like it when his insecurities broke the surface (which they often did), so he overcompensated in other ways. This, Isla learned, was his price._

" _What good would that do me?" Isla snarled, spitting at Hux as shoved her against the wall of her cell. The shackles she'd received after the previous day's incident limited her retaliation. "I don't know what kind of trash you normally hire for this kind of work, but I'm not stupid."_

_He slapped her across the face. Though her cheek stung, she glared at him in defiance. The second blow drew blood, but Isla was unmoved. She could take a beating, and she had proven it to Hux time and time again._

_Hux gripped her neck and pressed her up against the wall. His sneer lingered as drew his face close to her skin._

" _Do not make the mistake of thinking you're indispensable."_

_He let her drop to the ground, giving her a solid kick once she landed. Isla watched him stroll out of the room, deciding that it was about time to send out her distress call._

_She just hoped someone was paying attention._

* * *

 

 **I** n a blind rage, Isla threw the empty bottle at the wall, breathing heavily as she watched shards of glass fall to the floor. Dissatisfied, she overturned the small table beside their bed, flinging its contents across the room. The lamp hit the wall with a pleasing crash, but it still wasn't enough.

After assessing the wreckage, Isla sank to her knees and sobbed.

 **P** oe's legs gave out once he was released from holding, but he'd be damned if he let the Stormtrooper drag him down the hallway. He mustered up his remaining strength and held his own as he glanced around, sussing out his options. There was little Poe hated more than this ship and the psychopaths it carried.

The Stormtrooper stopped suddenly, pushing Poe into a small room.

"Listen carefully," the trooper said. "If you do exactly as I say, I can get you out of here."

Convinced he'd misunderstood, Poe furrowed his brow. He was hazy, but he wasn't hallucinating just yet.

"What?"

"This is a rescue. I'm helping you escape. Can you fly a TIE fighter?"

Poe looked him up and down.

"You're with the Resistance?"

"What? No, no, no. I'm breaking you out—can you fly a TIE fighter?"

"I can fly anything," Poe asserted. "Why? Why are you helping me?

"Because it's the right thing to do."

Poe didn't buy it for a second, but he didn't care—it wasn't an opportunity he was going to pass up.

"You need a pilot."

"I need a pilot."

A deserter. The Force worked in mysterious ways.

"We're gonna do this."

The rogue Stormtrooper marched him to the hangar, past other troopers and higher-ranking officers. Poe felt surprisingly calm. His luck had completely shifted—it was more than he could've hoped for.

They ducked into a gleaming TIE fighter. When he started it up, the scream of the twin engines was absolutely exhilarating. After a few attempts, the cable docking the sleek starfighter ripped off. Shots rang, but Poe avoided them with the trooper's help on the guns.

"What's your name?"

"FN-2187."

Poe wanted to say,  _fuck that First Order kark,_  but instead he said he was going to call him Finn. FN-something something found the new name agreeable enough and shouted back.

"Good to meet you, Poe!"

"Good to meet you too, Finn."

Cannons aimed right at their TIE fighter but he outflew them all, letting Finn handle the others closing in around them. They argued briefly about their destination, but—as grateful as he was—Poe wasn't really listening to a word Finn said. He was the one in control now, and he had to get back to Jakku to find BB-8.

Poe flipped the switch on the comm and punched in the base's code. Just as he made contact, he began to lose control of the fighter. They'd been hit.

"Come in," he shouted, doing everything he could to make their landing as soft as possible. "This is Commander Poe Dameron! If you can hear me, we are making a crash landing on Jakku—."

His connection was lost as the fighter careened toward the desert surface, but Poe wasn't worried about his odds.

Someone had heard him.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**T** hey broke the planet's atmosphere and Poe felt the heat immediately; he wasn't sure, though, if it was coming from the sun, the fire eating up the back of the First Order fighter, or the incredible rate at which they were speeding toward the ground.

"Eject, buddy!" He screamed, knowing it was useless as he could hardly hear himself over the roaring disaster that was once a TIE fighter.

Once Poe hit the button, he was instantly catapulted from the burning black mess. He always thought that whole "life flashing before your eyes thing" was bull, but as his chute opened up miles above the harsh Jakku surface, it suddenly didn't seem so silly.

* * *

 

" ** _G_** _eneral!" A young ensign called out and caught Poe's attention._

_He'd been sitting there twiddling his thumbs and waiting for something to happen. They hadn't been getting anywhere recently and it was slowly killing him._

_"We have something you might want to take a look at it."_

_The ensign led Leia to the computer and pointed to the string of numbers that had appeared._

" _It just came in from the Finalizer," the ensign explained._

_Poe slid up to the computer and peered over their uniformed shoulders._

" _What does it mean?"_

_Leia pursed her lips as she squinted at the screen._

_Poe studied the lines._

"C _oordinates," he muttered to himself. "No..."_

_He pulled away from the computer and sat down in front of the radar screen._

" _Read those out for me, will you?" he shouted._

_The ensign did as he was instructed._

" _Coordinates." Poe jumped up excitedly, keeping his eyes on the screen. "They're coordinates!"_

" _Coordinates for what, exactly?_

_The object they'd picked up was quite large. It moved slowly across the screen._

" _It couldn't be," Poe whispered. "General, I think it's the ship."_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _We are receiving location coordinates from the Finalizer. We've found it."_

" _How is that possible?"_

_A group huddled around the screen in silence. It was, in all honesty, a little perplexing._

_They had received an encrypted transmission from the Finalizer, but upon receipt by Resistance computers, the transmission was set to decrypt itself. He may not have been much of a tech guy, but Poe had never seen anything like it._

" _Now," Admiral Ackbar cleared his throat. "It's only reasonable that we sit on this until we're sure of what we have."_

" _I agree with the Adirmal," Leia said. "Alert me if anything else comes in."_

_..._

_Coordinates came in once a day for the next four days. They charted a progressive course of the Finalizer. It was heading toward Vardos, a notorious Imperial planet._

_A flurry of voices filled the room._

" _Maybe it's some kind of distress signal?"_

" _If that's the case, why would they broadcast it to us?"_

_"It's not coming from the First Order."_

_As they charted the ship's landing, another set of coordinates came through._

_"These are for a prison."_

_"A what?"_

_"A prison?"_

" _What if the Finalizer is carrying captives?" Snap asked. "It's big enough."_

" _Sure, but why would they keep prisoners onboard? Why not ship them off somewhere to the Outer Rim."_

" _Because they're valuable." Poe stood up. "Think about it—how many people do you know of who could pull off something like that? From what we can see, the transmissions have been cloaked, going out undetected right under the First Order's nose. That has to take some serious skill. The First Order would want to keep beings like this within close reach for as long as possible. Maybe they've got no use for them now, so they're dumping them."_

_Someone shouted something about a trap and an argument erupted. Poe shook his head in frustration_

" _I disagree," he proclaimed. "We've been tracking them for days now. They aren't anywhere near our base. If this…" he stopped, taking note of a small, circular character that followed each list of coordinates._

_He had seen it before._

" _Commander?"_

 _Poe wracked his brain as he ran his hands over his face._ Think, think, think _, he told himself._

_Then it dawned on him._

_It couldn't be, could it?_

_Poe rubbed his forehead and chuckled to himself._

" _It's not a trap," he voiced confidently. "I know that sign, and trust me—" he squared off with the Admiral. "It is not the sign of a First Order sympathizer."_

" _And if you're wrong, Commander?"_

" _Get Sirek in here," Poe shouted, clearly overstepping his boundaries. "Pull up their logs and see who's traveling with them."_

" _General," Admiral Seni Lerjo threw his hands up in the air. "You're not going to start letting pilots make these decisions are you?"_

_Leia frowned at Poe as he silently pleaded with her. She trusted him—he knew she did and he was always willing to test that trust. Did she love the way he occasionally went about getting his work done, not really. But that was why she had recruited him. He had phenomenal instincts._

" _If Lieutanant Narr finds valuable information, we will discuss this further."_

_Poe's eyes fluttered shut in relief, despite the protests from Lerjo._

_Sirek Narr wasn't a slicer, but he was the best option the Resistance had. Poe had faith that he could get the job done. Besides, prisoner logs weren't usually something that was too difficult to find._

_Sure enough, Narr got results. It took him a few hours, but they were able to convince Leia to send out a rescue mission._

" _A lot of these people served the Republic," Captain Donteri Gantur said, scanning over the list. "Medics, pilots, pathfinders—we could sure find a use for them. I doubt being held captive has made them huge fans of the First Order."_

" _There are easily thirty good recruits here, with a half dozen or so of no consequence."_

Make that thirty-one _, Poe thought as he stared at the black hole._

_Leia, or any of the others for that matter, couldn't deny that their numbers were lacking. They needed recruits with skill, and freedom tended to be a very persuasive tool._

" _Rescuing servants of the Republic wouldn't exactly hurt our status either," Poe added._

_He desperately wanted this assignment. Black Squadron had spent the past couple of months doing innocuous recon work. This was exactly the high-stakes thing he was looking for._

_"That's good publicity."_

_Leia shook her head at him._

" _You've given me an offer I can't refuse, Commander."_

_The Resistance had an incredible advantage here—the element of complete and total surprise. Wound the enemy, get some fresh blood—it would be foolish not to follow through on this._

_Poe was staking his reputation, and their lives, on an assumption, but it was going to pay out._


	4. Chapter 4

**T** he floodgates were open. Old memories—and bad booze—made Isla's stomach lurch, and she rushed to the nearest waste bin to vomit. The liquor burned twice as much on its way up as it had on its way down.

Time passed at an agonizingly slow pace. Isla rubbed her tired eyes, but refused to let her body and mind sleep. If any news came through, she had to be awake.

Without anything to focus on, other than the possibility of Poe's death, her mind wandered.

* * *

 

**_I_ ** _sla had been on the Finalizer for 284 standard days when she was finally dumped into the First Order prison on Vardos. It was then three more days until she heard the incoming X-Wings._

_Not only had she succeeded, she hadn't been caught. Sure, Hux still beat the krif out of her, but things could've been significantly worse had he known what she'd done._

" _Tendra," she whispered, closing her eyes in revelry. It felt like a dream. "Do you hear that?"_

" _They're probably just making the rounds," Tendra replied sleepily. "You know how much Hux likes to flex his muscles."_

_Isla grimaced, remembering the evening he'd first tried assault her in a corridor. She'd knocked him out cold. He hadn't been able to tell the trooper who'd found him slumped over what had occurred without losing credibility, which had embarrassed him enough to leave her alone for a day or two before retaliating. Once her small window closed, Isla didn't think she'd make it off the ship alive even if her plan worked._

" _Do I ever." She exhaled. "But those aren't First Order ships. That's the Resistance."_

" _I don't believe you." Tendra sat up and listened more closely. She started to consider the possibility. "Do you think they know we're here?"_

_Isla popped her knuckles as a distant explosion echoed through the ship._

" _We can only hope."_

_..._

_Within a day, Isla found herself sitting in yet another cell. This one was again on solid ground—where she preferred to be—but operated by the Resistance. The rescue mission had been a complete success. Those bucket heads never saw it coming. She didn't care for the logistics of it as long as she was out of the First Order's grasp. From what she had overheard, there were only a few casualties. What the Resistance lost, however, they would make up in no time._

_The rescue carrier had been big enough to hold the soldiers and at least fifty additional passengers, of which there were only about thirty-five. The majority of that group was made up of former pilots, pathfinders, and medics for the Republic. All were welcomed into the Resistance with open arms._

_Only a handful of those rescued had records. Isla, of course, found herself in the latter. After some testing was done, only three from this group were given the option to join the Resistance. The rest were extradited to the Republic for trial. Isla, surprisingly, found herself in the former._

" _Ms. Kesson." The woman in front of her, Lieutanant Denivir Winfro, scrolled through her datapad as she spoke. "Once your probationary period is over—I'd say in about six standard weeks—you'll be assigned to ground forces. It's a natural starting place for recruits the General finds to be a little more…ambiguous."_

_Isla only stared, mouth agape. Freedom was basically being handed to her. She would be issued a dormitory and two pairs of brown fatigues. She would get at least two solid meals a day. She could go wherever she pleased on site, as long as she participated in the mandatory training groups five times a day. All she had to do was bide her time until she would be sent on off-world missions. Desertion would be easy. As long as she stayed quiet and kept her head down, no one would bother coming after her._

...

" _Ms. Kesson?" Lieutanent Winfro looked concerned as Isla silently weighed her options. "Have you changed your mind?"_

" _No!" Isla was jolted from her thoughts. "No, no. That sounds perfect."_

_She graciously accepted her belongings and left, wanting to drop by the dormitory to clean up and change out of the First Order fatigues she'd been wearing for months. They had become a second skin that she desperately wanted to shed. She didn't want a single reminder of her time there if she could help. The scars were enough._

_Up until the moment the cool water hit her skin, Isla hadn't realized exactly just how exhausted she was. Every part of her body ached. Her eyelids began to flutter._

_One of the medics had examined Isla and the other prisoners upon arrival and was surprised to announce that nothing in her body had been broken. She was merely "a little banged up." Only a few stitches were needed here and there, and she did her best to keep them as dry as possible._

_She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, cautious of any unexpected visitors. Years of constantly looking over her should had taken its toll. When she looked out into the living space, she was still alone. Roommates had not yet been assigned. The sense of peace the quietness gave her was immeasurable, but it would take time adjusting to this new life even if she wasn't planning on making it permanent._

_Isla picked up her uniform. Keirrian would be pleased with this development. That was for certain. She'd rallied for the Alliance and then the Resistance as long as Isla has known her._

_Isla's brows knit together as she took in the image in the mirror before her._

" _Well," she said to herself as she straightened her collar. "You have lived to see another day—that's gotta count for something."_

_Though collapsing into her bunk sounded absolutely sensational, Isla had spent the last several months trapped in ship in outer space. What she had missed the most—other than her freedom—was the ability to walk outside and breathe. Corellia wasn't necessarily known for it's clean air, but at least it wasn't stale space air. It was nearly time for dinner, but she could forgo a meal that night if it meant being able to look up at the sky instead of feeling engulfed by it._

_The sun was beginning to set as she reached the edge of the base that overlooked a valley. She had to hand it to the Resistance—their choice of locale was incredible. Isla closed her eyes as she tipped in head back and inhaled deeply._

_She ran over numbers in her head. She could be out of here in—._

" _Wasn't sure I'd ever see you again."_

_Her shoulders tensed at the disruption of the moment, and she turned around slowly._

_The pilot from Corellia, dressed in nearly identical clothing, was watching her. She had guessed right after all._

" _It's a small galaxy," she said cautiously as she noticed his jacket. "Commander."_

_Isla stiffened a little, unsure of the proper etiquette._

" _Oh come on now," he grinned softly, approaching her swiftly. "We go way back. No need for formalities."_

_She frowned with an edge of playfulness._

" _Not trying to get me in trouble already, are you?"_

" _Nothing that you wouldn't have already gotten yourself into."_

" _Ha," she said with a small smile._

_The Commander offered her a calloused hand and Isla took it. He watched her fingers wrap around his own._

" _Firm grip," he declared with another easy-going smile. "Exactly what I would've expected. Poe Dameron."_

" _Isla Kesson."_

" _Isla Kesson." Poe rolled her name over on his tongue as he stared her. "Nice to meet you," he added with a wink. "I knew it was going to be a beautiful name."_

_Isla pretended not to remember what he was talking about._

_He stepped back and ran a hand through a shock of thick, wavy black hair._

" _Well, I'll leave you alone." He smiled as he took a few backward paces before pausing thoughtfully._

_"Try to stick it out, alright? You might like it here."_

_Before she could respond, falteringly as it would be, he walked away. Isla turned back to the stretch of land before her, letting out an aggravated sigh._

* * *

 

 **A**  knock on the door startled Isla.

She wiped her eyes, gargled some water, and quickly answered. The young ensign standing in front of her looked wide-eyed and nervous.

"Lieutenant," she began "They've located—"

Isla never let her finish. She pushed past her and sprinted to the Control Room, arriving completely out of breath.

Practically everyone on base had been called in. Poe wasn't only important to Isla—he was part of the life force of the entire movement.

"We have good news." Leia addressed the entire room, but turned her focus to Isla. "Commander Dameron has made contact.

"We will send a retrieval unit immediately—"

"I'll go." Isla straightened her posture as soon as the words left her mouth.

She blinked once. This was the second time in twenty-four hours that she had cut off the General.

All eyes were on her.

"Oh my," she heard C-3PO bumble.

"I can bring him home."

Someone from the side of the room clear his throat.

"I'm sure you can, Lieutenant Dameron, but don't you think this mission is a little too sensitive?"

Isla turned to him, her inside boiling over the way he enunciated her last name.

"Fuck off."

Beside her, Karé Kun snorted sharply. Iolo Arana shook his head as he elbowed her, a hint of a smile gracing his face.

"Please." Isla turned to the General, who had raised a finger in admonishment.

General Organa's lips were pressed tightly together into a thin line.

Was she really going to deny Isla after everything she and General Solo had been through together?

"Alright, Lieutenant." The General raised her eyebrows and nodded toward the door. "Go get him."


	5. Chapter 5

**S** and.

There was so much karking sand. It was in his hair, his ears, his mouth, his eyes—gods knew where else. And everything hurt. If it was possible for a person to break his entire body, Poe had done it.

He lay on his back, shielding his face from the sun and shaking his head. This was by far the worst situation he'd ever gotten himself into. He'd gotten Lor San Tekka killed and villagers slaughtered, lost his droid, given up the location of the map, and nearly died escaping to a desert planet. What a kriffing disaster.

Isla was the only thing that could make his self-loathing go away, even if only for a little while, and at this point, all he had left were his memories.

* * *

 

**_P_ ** _oe sat alone at a mess hall table picking at the leftover food the cook had slipped him. Dinner had been over for at least three hours, but he'd been in a mood and taken in some extra training time. The sunset had signaled he'd better give it up for the day. He'd been back on base for a little less than two days and was already feeling restless. He asked for assignments, one right after the other, just to keep the feeling at bay. He knew he was exhausting himself, he could feel it in his bones, but he didn't like the downtime. It was empty, not to mention lonely. He only felt alive in the air, when he was doing something that mattered. So the vicious cycle continued._

_He took one last forkful before tossing the remaining contents of his tray into the trash and heading over to the training center. He may not have mastered the art of boxing, but at that point, nothing except flying gave him quite the sense of relief._

_The gym wasn't as empty as he'd expected it to be. Others must have shared his frustration. Clumps of people lingered here and there, but nobody seemed to be doing anything other than standing around._

_Nobody but Isla._

_There was not a square inch of dry fabric on her gray tank top. Though he hadn't sought her out, she was hard to miss. He immediately spotted her long, blond braid fluttering in the air as she moved in a flurry of well-placed jabs and a quick roundhouse kick._

_Poe couldn't resist her when he'd seen her a week ago around the dormitories. After all, she'd sent out a distress call and he was pretty sure, Force be willing, she knew exactly who was going to answer._

_Isla was thinner and a little cagier than he remembered. There was a fresh scar running from the top of her left temple down to her jawbone, still pink and puckered. Her shoulders were tight. She'd been standing there, looking out over the valley, contemplating something. He'd had a good feeling she was planning her exit, but who was to say. It had been some time since their meeting on Coreilla._

_She hadn't lost her radiance though._

_He'd been too wrapped up in thought to notice the man approaching Isla. Some cocky former Pathfinder for the Republic, Macz Erach. Poe had seen him once or twice around base and he seemed like a real pain in the ass._

_Macz got in Isla's face._

_About to intervene, Poe saw the way her body responded to the threat and stopped. Isla had Macz pinned to the ground within minutes, her knee pressed down on his burly chest. Macz protested loudly (Poe was sure he had shouted "scum") as she let him up. He yanked on her arm—a move that seemed futile given the propensity Isla seemed to have for hand-to-hand combat. Sure enough, Isla held him in a headlock until his face burned red, not from embarrassment but from the struggle to breathe. Transfixed, Poe could see her lips moving softly as Macz writhed in her grasp, his head bobbing up and down in forced agreement. Suddenly, Isla let go. She pushed her sweat-soaked hair away from her face as Macz bent over, breathing heavily, and walked out of the gym._

_Poe followed._

* * *

 

 **A** fter several minutes, Poe managed to pull himself off of the ground. His arms and legs appeared to be in working order, and if he pressed on his ribs just right, he could walk without too much trouble.

Now he just needed to figure out which direction was going to lead him to Niima Outpost, the most obvious extraction point. He looked up at the sun, as his father had taught him, but he was having trouble remembering what to do after that.

* * *

 

 ** _I_** _sla knelt down alongside the mess hall, tying her shoe. It had come undone during the scuffle with Macz, but she hadn't wanted to stick around any longer than necessary. She pulled at her laces, frustrated, hand shaking slightly_  from adrenaline.

_A shadow suddenly appeared. She'd been dreading these moments ever since she'd signed her name to the contract offered up by Lieutanent Winfro. Everyone knew she wasn't formerly with the Republic, which meant that the entire base knew she was a criminal. She wasn't welcome here. First Macz, now this guy. Keeping a low profile was going to be more difficult than she thought._

_She scrubbed her hand over her face, inhaled deeply, and braced herself. For what, she wasn't exactly certain. It's not like this guy could take her out right here in the middle of the base. Defense was just a reflex. And she was running hot._

" _You look like you could use a drink."_

" _What?"_

_Isla looked up, unable to stop herself from snapping, and was met with Poe's coy smile. Her body relaxed only slightly and she rose to her feet, folding her arms across her chest. What was up with this guy? He'd done his job and now he could move on._

_Poe mirrored her stance and narrowed his eyes._

_"I'm not stalking you_."

_Isla frowned._

_"You sure about that?"_

_Poe held up his hands and laughed._

_"Are you always this difficult?"_

_The last time she'd been out for a drink (alone), she'd been arrested._   _And, really, the last thing she should do was get sauced with someone like him. But she surprised herself._

" _I, uh," she began, finding herself nodding—the physical affirmation was mainly for her own benefit. "I could use a drink."_

_"Thought so."_

_Poe turned and began walking in the direction leading away from the base. Isla hung back, but he didn't notice as he began talking._

" _There's this spot out past the forest..."_

_But then he trailed off upon realizing he was walking alone._

" _Uh, Poe." Isla held up her hand as he looked back at her. "I'm not allowed to leave the base."_

" _Right," he murmured, shaking his head and heading back towards her. "Not a problem."_

" _So," Poe glanced at her as he backtracked toward the central area of the base. "On probation, huh?"_

_He took Isla's silence as a "yes" and whistled softly in acknowledgement._

" _I've been there before."_

_Isla smiled to herself, slanting her eyes to get quick look at the man beside her. Maybe he wasn't as much on the straight and narrow as she had originally thought._

_Poe led her up to the hangar._

_"You're such a flyboy." Isla murmured._

_He smirked._

" _We keep a bottle or two around here for celebrations," he explained as he began rifling through drawers at one of the workbenches. "I'm sure nobody will mind, as long as I replenish the stash."_

_Poe held up the found bottle proudly. Isla noticed it was Corellian. Commander Dameron wasn't holding out on her._

" _To remind you of home."_

_Her chest tightened a little as she watched him grabbed some glasses and nod toward the back entrance._

" _C'mon."_

_Isla followed, slightly transfixed with the handsome Resistance pilot. He was so at ease she almost found it irritating. Or charming. But she didn't really care at that moment. She was free(ish) and for the first time in a long a time, she wasn't scrambling to avoid arrest or come by some quick credits. A few weeks ago she had been handcuffed to her bunk. Now she was in the company of Poe Dameron, inhaling the night air deeply and closing her eyes as he poured her a glass of Corellia's best stuff. She supposed she could relax for once, but it occurred to her that she didn't know how._

_Behind her, he suddenly stopped clambering about. For a few moments, there was absolute silence._

" _How long were you there?"_

" _Nine and a half months," Isla answered._

_She wasn't quite ready to give up this sense of calm, and she was relieved when Poe didn't press any further. He only poured himself a glass of whiskey and took a sip. A few minutes later, she turned around and opened her eyes. He'd been watching her._

" _Your personal cantina." Poe gestured to the bottle of whiskey on the ground between two mechanic stools. His voice had lost some of its liveliness, but his eyes gleamed._

_Isla smiled softly, reaching for the half-full glass he held out to her with a lopsided smile. Isla accepted it, briefly hesitating before downing the entire thing in a single gulp._

" _Alright." Poe laughed and shook his head._

_Isla covered her lips with the back of her hand, feeling her cheeks flush._

" _I'm sorry," she said. "I just…wow. I really, really needed that."_

_Poe kept laughing and took her empty glass to refill it._

" _Nine and a half month in a First Order prison? You can have the whole damn bottle."_

_She only took a sip this time, watching Poe out of the corner of her eyes as she did so. He smiled._

" _Don't hold back on my account."_

_They sat in silence for a few moments, staring out into the night._

" _You sent the coordinates." Poe was the first to speak. It was statement rather than a question._

" _Yes."_

" _How'd you do it?"_

" _They wanted me to decrypt transmissions from the Resistance. I figured if I could receive them, I might be able to override their communicator and send some of my own. Decrypting was easy—you guys need to work on that—but it took me a while to figure out how to get everything else going. I just kept getting lucky that there wasn't anything of importance in your transmissions, so they kept me around. That, and Hux—"_

_Isla took a large swig from her glass and closed her eyes._

" _Hux?"_

" _It's nothing." She chewed on her lip and stared ahead._

_"Well that certainly sounds like a story for another day."_

_Isla paused, caught off guard by his interest. He looked at her in a suggestive manner._

_"I'll tell you what," she proclaimed a bit more boldly than intended. "You get me another bottle of this stuff and I'll tell you_ all _about it."_

_Poe snorted, eye contact unwavering, and held out his glass._

_"It's a deal."_

_Isla looked down into the brown liquid. She hadn't really expected him to take the bait. He seemed drawn to her, but she couldn't figure it out. He didn't know a thing about her._

" _The symbol—" Poe swallowed thickly as he changed the subject. "Did you think someone would recognize it?"_

_Isla chuckled wryly._

" _Honestly, Commander." She looked at Poe. "I was hoping you would."_

He looked away quickly, the serendipitous nature of this entire thing sinking in.

" _How'd you even know I'd be here?"_

"You were pretty determined, _" Isla said. "Figured you wouldn't have stopped chasing them. If I was wrong, I knew someone could at least figure out the coordinates."_

" _Well," Poe answered softly. "It worked."_

_Then he cleared his throat, sat up straighter, and poured another glass._

" _It took some convincing, but Leia finally agreed. What a trip—for a moment there, I thought I'd lost my wing—"_

" _Your wing?" Isla frowned. "That was you?"_

_Poe nodded, quietly gauging Isla's reaction._

" _Black Squadron leader," he stated, as if that was enough an explanation in it of itself. "We snuck up on 'em. It was incredible. I don't think I've ever coordinated a mission that's gone so smoothly. Distraction, extraction-it was perfect."_

_Unsure of the sudden emotion that had overtaken her, Isla cleared her throat and tried to act like she hadn't been affected by this absurd cosmic coincidence. Not only did this man receive her messages, but he understood them and executed a plan. It had nothing to do with her, really, it was his job. But still, it was kind of huge._

" _Well," she said, shaking it off. Isla held up her glass with a steady hand and looked Poe square in the eye. "Thank you."_

_They both drained their glasses._

" _It is a small galaxy after all," she sighed._

_..._

_Unsurprisingly, they polished off the entire bottle of whiskey, and, together, headed back to the dorms more than a little tipsy._

_"So you're from Corellia, yet you don't like flying?"_

_Poe's face was split in a permanent grin, his walk shuffling. Isla had, at some point, linked her arm through his in an attempt to keep them both upright._

_She shook her head, giggling a little._

_"Stars, no!"_

" _Well," Poe remarked, his eyes wide and his face near hers. He paused. "We'll have to fix that."_

_Isla momentarily lost herself in the curve of his mouth._

_She blamed the whiskey._

_"So I guess this was my thank-you," Poe spoke with a hint of a giggle himself as he leaned against her. "For that day back at your shop. I mean, the data you gave me was shit, but everything I saw just confirmed what I already suspected. It didn't take too long for me to leave the Navy."_

_"Gotta be a hero, huh?" Isla rolled her eyes, despite the sudden flush she felt. He elbowed her playfully. If he'd been in the right state of mind, Poe would've have seen her too-pink cheeks._

_"I mean." He stopped walking when they reached her building. "I wanted to take you out anyway. Guess I was just a little late."_

_Isla, feeling vulnerable, stared at him for a moment. She couldn't figure him out._

_Poe didn't wait for her response. He nodded with a small smile before heading off to his own room._

" _Goodnight, Isla."_


	6. Chapter 6

**A** few mechanics were fueling a beaten up, but refurbished, HWK-290 when Isla arrived at the hangar. It was ancient and had been repainted a dull grayish-brown color. The ship certainly wasn't flashy, but it was inconspicuous and could get the job done.

"Thanks, boys." Isla waved as she stepped into the ship.

Her nerves were electrified. This was for all the marbles. If she didn't get Poe back, the Resistance would flounder. And so would she. He was her entire purpose at this point, which would've been such a strange notion to the young woman she'd been when she arrived on D'Qar.

Isla took a seat in the pilot's chair and began prepping, just like Poe had taught her years before.

* * *

 

**_P_ ** _oe appraised her figure silently for a moment as she straightened the collar of her flight suit. She raised an eyebrow. He was not subtle._

_He had made good on his drunken promise. He'd somehow gotten the General's ear and convinced her that Isla needed one-on-one flight training. According to Poe, she wasn't able to say no to him. The click he had a spare moment, he sought Isla out during some routine blaster training and persuaded the instructor that she had more important things to do, which she really did because she'd been using a blaster since she was twelve years old if not younger._

_"You'll fit," he concluded and climbed up the ladder into his X-Wing. "C'mon up!"_

_Once she reached the cockpit, he pulled her inside with him and adjusted a space for her to sit between his legs._

_Not subtle at all._

_Isla settled in just the same. It had been a couple of weeks and she'd doubled down on the conclusion that Poe wasn't going to be that easy to shake off. She'd heard a couple of rumors about his romantic endeavors and figured he'd lose interest in her soon enough. He had proven himself to be a good guy a thousand times over, which just made it easier for Isla to imagine how simple it must have been for him to have an affair here and there._

_He was making her time there fun, which made her probationary period go by much faster than she'd anticipated. And she couldn't be immune to having a little fun now and then._

_As she looked at all of the button and levers, she rested her hands on his thighs. She felt Poe exhale sharply. Stray hairs from her low bun tickled his neck._

_He cleared his throat._

_"So," he began casually. "This is to steer. Obviously."_

_"Of course."_

_He pointed to a set of buttons and explained their purposes. Poe could feel the vibrations of her murmured responses against his chest._

_"What does this do?" She pointed to a small lever._

_"And this? What about this?"_

_As she enthusiastically pointed to each and every button and knob, she jostled slightly in his lap._

_"Easy there," he breathed._

_Isla could feel him stiffen against her hip._

_A couple minutes later, she did it again. This time Poe could see the reflection of her satisfied smile in the window._

_..._

_He taught her how to prime the engine, going over it a few times before letting her start it up on her own. She seemed interested enough in the workings of the ship, but Poe noticed the confidence disappear when he asked if she was ready to go up. He couldn't take her in his X-Wing, of course, but there was a tandem ready to go when she was._

" _Let's get this over with," she said unenthusiastically as she stumbled over Poe's legs in an attempt to climb out of the cockpit._

_She tried to hoist herself up, causing her backside to bump him in the face._

_"Sorry about that," she muttered uncaringly, grunting a little as she climbed out onto the ladder._

_"S'quite alright." He smiled, shaking his head._

_If the First Order didn't kill him, this woman certainly would._

_..._

_"You ready back there?" Poe's voice came over the comm once he'd situated himself._

" _As I'll ever be."_

_They flew low for a while, as not to raise suspicion, but he was just high enough to throw in a few tricks. He didn't hear any complaining about turning completely vertical, so he rolled the ship a couple of times._

_"You're a dead man, Poe Dameron." she shouted._

_..._

_Poe jumped out of the X-Wing just as soon as he shut her down, but he noticed Isla hadn't even unbuckled her seatbelt._

_He climbed up the ladder and softly tapped on her helmet._

_"Are you alright?"_

_She pulled the helmet off, her white-blonde hair spilling onto her shoulders. Her face was slightly ashen._

" _I'm going to kick your ass as soon as I can walk again," she growled._

_"I would'nt expect any less." He beamed, offering her a hand up._

_She took his hand, holding on tightly. When she wobbled on the ladder, Poe grabbed her hips and lifted her into his arms. She teetered slightly when her feet touched the ground and she rested a hand over her mouth. Isla met his gaze and paused._

_"Thank you."_

" _Anytime." He reached out to steady her. "I hope I didn't make you sick…"_

" _Oh no," she burped and immediately placed the back of her hand against her mouth. "Eh, sorry about that. My stomach isn't…. No, I'm good."_

" _We'll get there, Kesson," he smiled, casually throwing an arm around her shoulder and walking her out of the hangar. "I'm glad you stuck around."_

* * *

 

 **T** he journey alone to Jakku was torturous.

Isla was thrilled with the amount of time she had to dwell on what state Poe would be in when she found him.

She put the ship into hyperspace as soon as she could, but it felt like it made no difference. She began planning her strategy, realizing she'd have to comb the desert for her pilot in case he never made it to Niima Outpost.


	7. Chapter 7

**H** e hadn't seen a blasted living thing since he crawled out of the wreckage of the TIE fighter a day ago. The heat, the sun, the salt—he was literally a dead man walking. Or rather, stumbling. He had no shade, no protection. What he wouldn't give for a drink of water. His eyes stung, forcing him to squint even more than he already had to in the glaring sun.

When a speeder approached up ahead in the distance, Poe was pretty convinced that he was seeing things. He didn't give it a second thought until he could hear the engine.

"Hey…" Poe shielded his eye with his hand to try and get a better look. The speeder was flying towards him. "Hey! Over here!"

It took the last bit of strength he had, but he flailed his arms, painfully, above his head and shouted. His voice was hoarse. He wasn't even sure it could be heard.

Regardless, the Blarina driving the speeder began to slow hesitantly.

Poe gave a final burst of energy and jogged up to him. He touched the side of the speeder just to assure himself that he wasn't imagining it all.

"Please," He said wearily. "I need help."

He and the Blarina, Naka lit, negotiated quickly. Out of goodwill (Poe would've given him the shirt of his back if he'd wanted it, but Naka lit vigorously declined), Naka lit would take Poe to Blowback Town. From there, a friend of his would drop Poe at Niima Outpost.

...

The relief of seeing the crumbling heap of landing bays and salvage yards was so deep, Poe thought he might cry. He thanked Ohn Gos with such enthusiasm, the Blarina pulled away quickly with out another word.

It was busy for a…whatever day it was. He should be able to slip in and out indiscriminately as long as he was able to hang on long enough to figure out a way off this rock. He couldn't be sure anyone heard him when he'd made contact just before the crash, but he refused to believe that someone—that Isla—wasn't coming for him.

The chain around his neck, which the First Order surprisingly didn't confiscate, felt heavy.

* * *

 

**_"S_ ** _o this new recruit…" Iolo looked at Poe over his breakfast tray. "You've been spending a lot of time with her."_

_Poe took a gulp of his caf._

_"Something going on?"_

_Poe only shrugged nonchalantly before draining his mug. He gauged Iolo and Snap's reactions out of the corner of his eye. They looked at him in disbelief._

_"Looks like our commander's got himself a little crush." Snap chuckled._

_Poe rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. There he was, thirty-two years old—a soldier of the Resistance—sitting in the mess hall talking about pretty girls._

_"They're sending her on a recon mission with me this Benduday," Snap said._

_"What?"_

_Isla hadn't mentioned any mission, but he had been gone for a while. Her probation wasn't up for another week._

_"Just a boots-on-the-ground type thing…she any good?"_

_"Oh yeah," he asserted._

_Iolo, who had been quiet since his initial inquisition, exchanged a glance with Snap that Poe didn't miss._

_"She serve the Republic?"_

_Poe could tell from his tone that this was his friend's way of asking if Poe knew her background._

_"No." He'd never mentioned their brief history. "We met before-a long time ago. She was picked up on Corellia."_

_This was all the affirmation they needed. If she had Poe's approval, that was that._

_"Well, she must have impressed somebody."_

_I'd say so," Snap added._

_..._

_An entire day of practice runs with new pilots should have exhausted Poe, but that was before Isla Kesson had become a major distraction. The news that she was being sent out on recon had been on his mind since breakfast. Poe had been anticipating the end of her probation almost as much as she had; he was eager to see her in action. He'd had a feeling that the two of them would make a great team, and his instincts were never wrong._

_She beautiful, smart—everything. Her past was rough, but she didn't carry it around like baggage. With a little coaxing, he'd gotten some stories about the jobs she pulled with some of Corellia's small-time smuggling rings and her run-ins with the First Order._

_Her easy-going laugh and wolfish smile lingered with him long after their time together. He was falling for her. Hard._

_There was still one story he hadn't heard yet, though, and there hadn't been a bottle of Corellian whiskey on base in weeks._

_BB-8 rolled to a stop near the left wing and chirped as Poe unzipped the top half of his flight suit and tied it around his waist._

_Despite the evening dusk settling in, the temperature was high. The base hummed with life. The Resistance finally had the momentum it needed to go after the First Order, and it soon would. For now, however, moments like these should be seized._

_Go tell Reaat I said to give you a little tune-up and a nice bit of oil," Poe instructed the droid._

_After a series of short beeps, Poe looked back at BB-8._

_No," he answered. "I have something else in mind."_

* * *

 

 **I** sla's first stop was the desert. Well, the point in the desert the Resistance thought the TIE may have crashed. She brought the ship down quickly and efficiently. There was no time to waste. She planned to search a ten-mile radius of the area, just in case Poe never made it as far as the outpost. Flying overhead for too long could raise suspicion, and the Resistance was sure Jakku was already in the First Order's crosshairs.

Isla patted the sides of her boots and her waist. Every weapon she'd strapped to her body during the flight was in place. She added a few canteens and closed up the ship, wrapping a scarf around her head and mouth as she set off.

"Don't give up on me yet, Poe."

* * *

 

**_H_ ** _unger had eluded Isla ever since she'd taken a meeting with General Organa the evening before, and she found herself in the training center once again._

_..._

_"I've been following up on you."_

_Isla fought the urge to look over her shoulder in case Leia was addressing someone else in the room. She figured it best she stay silent._

_"You're quite talented in a few areas," Leia continued, lacing her fingers together. Isla couldn't help but admire Leia's poise._

_"We'd really like to keep you in our grounds forces right now, so consider yourself a member of the Resistance Army. From what I've gathered, you should find this division quite fitting. I know…some people…have taken a special interest in you, and, by all means, any additional training you can get in here and there would be beneficial, but we're going to start sending you out on reconnaissance missions."_

_This was news._

_"In fact, you're due out on Benduday. You'll be accompanying some members of Black Squadron to Arkanis."_

Black Squadron _, Isla thought. That was Poe._ He can't be behind this _, she reminded herself. He'd be gone for a week, but he'd been on her mind morning, noon, and night._

_"Benduday? My probation isn't up for another week."_

_Leia smiled._

_"Keep up the good work."_

_"Yes m'am," Isla faltered._

_"Debriefing is tomorrow morning."_

_"Thank you m'am."_

_..._

_Isla left the underground control room, chest tightening. The opportunity she'd been waiting for—the chance to run—had finally arrived, but it wasn't as welcomed as she'd expected. She'd gotten too close to Poe. Kriffing flyboy. All the warning bells were ringing the minute he'd sought her out on her first day, and she blatantly ignored them. Usually, she kept her distance, knew how to cut ties. But she had held the door wide open for him all because she remembered those friendly eyes and wide smile. That was her first mistake. Then she kept making excuses for what was going on, which was her second mistake. After hearing of his reputation, she expected to be discarded (kindly) and forgotten. That hadn't happened, and now she liked him. A lot._

_Third mistake._

_..._

_The majority of the base was crowding into the mess hall for dinner, which meant Isla would be found elsewhere. If she couldn't stay away from Poe, she could keep her distance from everyone else. Besides, she'd been avoiding all life forms since that morning's debriefing._

_"Hey."_

_Isla didn't have to stop her sit-ups to know whom it was that was calling out to her. That voice had whispered playfully into her ear so many times she was beginning to hear it in her dreams._

_"You want to get out of here?" Poe jerked his head toward the doorway._

_Isla froze with her elbows past her knees. Obviously, he couldn't read her mind or know of her [potential] plans, but paranoia was eating her from the inside out._

_"What?"_

_He was still wearing his flight suit._

_"Whatd'ya say we take a little hike?" He bit his lip as he ran his fingers through his hair. Isla sat up on her elbows and stared at him. His smile broadened when their eyes met._

_"A hike?"_

_Now he frowned._

_"Are we going to do this all night? It's a beautiful evening, you're leaving tomorrow, and I miss—."_

_He stopped abruptly, his bravado suddenly gone._

_"Oh." Isla cleared her throat a little as she struggled to keep her thoughts straight._

_He missed her._

_She chose to ignore his admission despite the feeling being mutual._

_"How'd you know about Arkanis?"_

_"Snap told me." He nodded again toward the lush greenery beyond the base._

_She unconsciously held out a hand for him to hoist her up. He watched her carefully as he pulled her to her feet, a small, nervous smile on his lips. She tried to smile back as she regained her composure._

He's just having fun _, she told herself. That was all. He was bored and she was a new shiny jet. The novelty would wear off. He would forget all about her after she'd been gone a few weeks. She might feel the sting for a little bit, but that was inconsequential._

_"So," he began casually as they walked toward the forest line. "Arkanis."_

_"Mmhmm." Isla fidgeted with her wrist comm._

_"When did this happen?"_

_"The General told me last night. I was a little surprised."_

_"That's great though, yeah?"_

_Poe's excitement was not reciprocated._

_"Mm."_

_"You ok?" Poe slowed his pace to a stop. His hand rested on her lower back. "You're quiet."_

_"Hm? Oh," Isla sputtered. His fingers were warm and strong. "Yes, just…nervous…I guess."_

_"Nervous? About the mission?" Poe chuckled. His braced her shoulded when she turned to face him. "What are you nervous about? You'll be great."_

_She was about to make a self-deprecating remark when he gently tugged on her hands toward the expanse of greenery ahead of them. Isla's knees felt like buckling, but she wouldn't allow it._

_"I know for a fact that you've impressed some important people. You're a valuable asset."_

_"A valuable asset, huh?"_

_She looked sideways at him, unable to stop herself from flirting. He had that affect on her._

_"Please, keep going."_

_"You know I could." He smiled slyly._

He only wants to have some fun _, she repeated to herself._

_"Shall we?"_

_Isla stepped onto a fallen tree and began walking ahead. Poe fell into step beside her._

_"What's Arkanis like?"_

_"Arkanis?" Poe looked sideways at her. "Gray. Rainy. Centrist."_

_"Sounds lovely."_

_She wavered on the log, but Poe held a hand to her hip to steady her as they kept talking like it was the most natural reflex in the galaxy._

_"Sounds miserable."_

_They reached a small, almost nonexistent clearing at the edge of the forest. After about twenty or so feet, the land ended abruptly; it cut off into large, jagged cliffs that overlooked a green, peaceful valley._

_Isla looked out. Corellia certainly didn't have views like this. She'd never seen anything like it._

_"How beautiful," she murmured, keenly aware of how close he was standing behind her._

_"Yes it is," he agreed as he watched her._

_She enjoyed the feeling of his breath on her neck._

_"I saw it on my way back from an assignment," he explained. "At the time, I hadn't done much exploring yet so it took me a while to find on foot."_

_Isla walked right up to the edge and looked down. Poe startled slightly, but she just looked over her shoulder and flashed a smile. He was so handsome in the sun's dying light._

_"Are we going to be able to find our way back once it's dark?"_

_"You're literally on the edge of a cliff and that's what you're worried about."_

_Isla stepped back and shrugged._

_"Nothing good happens in the dark."_

_Poe laughed, laying the satchel he'd been carrying onto the ground._

_"I have refreshments." He held up several bottles of Trandoshan ale._

_Isla, relieved for something to dull her racing thoughts, accepted as she took a seat on the grass. After a hearty sip, she leaned back on her elbows and inhaled deeply. She just needed to hang on for one more day._

_"Do you come here a lot?"_

_"Not as much as I'd like," Poe admitted, finding a place beside her._

_He watched as she lightly ran her hands through a small patch of wildflowers. She became quiet again._

_"You're going to be fine, you know."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"Recon. You're a natural." He nudged her shoulder. "You've waited long enough and now you get to start doing something important."_

_She admired him for a moment. The only thing she'd ever been that passionate about was self-preservation._

_"You really love what you're doing here, don't you?"_

_"Of course." Poe took a drink. "It's in my blood. This is what I was meant to do."_

_Isla raised an eyebrow._

_"My parents were in the Alliance. Mom was a pilot, dad was a soldier."_

_She was surprised something like that could withstand the toll of war. An image of his parents sneaking off to a secluded spot such as this popped into her head. They were smiling and happy, like their son._

_"They sound like quite the pair."_

_"Mom and dad? Oh yeah." He smiled a little forlornly as he looked out at the skyline. "They were lucky-a perfect match."_

_Isla saw it suddenly in his eyes, and her heart slammed against her ribcage. He wanted that. The question was whether he was looking for it with her. She tried to reconcile what he was projecting and what she felt, and it began to hurt._

_She needed another drink._

_Isla reached for a second bottle of ale. Poe grabbed it and held it out to her._

_"Are you ever going to tell me what happened with Hux?"_

_She stared at him, pursing her lips as she chewed at the inside of her cheek. This day was just taking all sorts of turns. She took the ale._

_"Now why is that important?"_

_Poe took a long swig from his own drink as Isla held her breath. He ran a hand through his hair before scratching at the back of his neck nervously._

_"I'd think it'd be obvious by now."_

_Isla closed her eyes and let her head drop. He cleared his throat._

_"I care about you."_

_She was out of excuses._

_"Poe…"_

_When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. His brow furrowed._

_"What?"_

_"I—"_

_Poe rested a hand on her folded knee, undeterred._

_"Forget I said anything." His smile was warm. "Besides, I didn't come through with that bottle of whiskey, so I'm jumping the gun anyway."_

_He was trying to shrug it off, but Isla could read the despair across his face. It was unbearable._

_"It's not that—it's just." She looked into his eyes. Stars, they were so deep she could lose herself. "I have a lot on my mind right now."_

_She sighed as she watched his shoulders relax_.

_None of this had gone as anticipated. Her fight or flight responses were kicking in, but the signals were getting crossed._

_"I think we should head back."_

_"I shouldn't have-_ "

_No!" Isla grabbed onto his arm. "Just...distracted. Tomorrow is going to be a big day."_

_"Of course," he nodded as he stood up briskly, bringing her with him. His pride was a little wounded, she could tell. "I should've known."_

_He looked out at the sky once more before turning to Isla. Some hair had fallen in front her eyes, and he casually reached out to tuck it behind her ear._

" _I still care though."_

_Isla paused. He smiled tenderly at her and began walking._

_She couldn't process a single thought and instead gave in._

_"Poe."_

_He took a step toward her. Before she could talk herself out of it, she grasped the collar of his flight suit and pulled him close. He searched her face, but didn't hesitate long before kissing her fervently. Isla let loose a soft moan and she swore she felt him smile against her neck. Her fingers wove deeper into his hair, desperation filling up her entire body, as she fell back against a tree. His hands held her tightly. They roamed from her back to her neck to her hair to her face, but he refused to let her go. She met his lips, catching his eye._

_Isla had never felt more love in her entire life._

_Nothing good happens in the dark._


	8. Chapter 8

**I** sla muttered to herself as she docked the ship on the fringes of the outpost. Other than debris from the TIE, Poe had left no trace of himself in the desert. She desperately hoped he hadn't been recaptured.

As her boots hit the dusty ground, Isla wrapped her head in a tan scarf. She hated this planet. Rain was much more preferable to sand.

* * *

 

**_I_ ** _sla stared ahead as the Arkanis transport headed back to D'Qar. She hadn't been able to do it. Her mind reeled. She was unfocused. She'd followed Snap and his team through the wreckage of the village and could only think about Poe's touch, his taste—that look in his eyes. He'd gotten her all out of sorts._

_She had, however, apparently no trouble at all killing an assailant in the name of the Resistance. Choosing Poe meant choosing a side, even if unwillingly._

_What had happened at the cliff—well, that was unexpected._

_They'd finally pulled themselves apart long enough to clumsily head back to the base. Isla could've floated there if Poe hadn't kept pausing to press her against the nearest natural landmark. Not that she was in any position to protest._

_They arrived at the dorms tousled and out of breath. Nobody else was around. Isla leaned against her door, her head spinning. What had she done?_

_"Is it cliché to say I've been wanting to do that for a while?" Poe asked, his face split into the most luminous grin as he pressed against her._

_Isla smiled sadly as she traced a finger across his chest. He kissed her again._

_She couldn't let this continue. Too much damage had already been done._

_"Arkanis."_

_Isla blinked and ran her fingers over her swollen lips as she pulled away._

_"I forgot about Arkanis." Poe was torn. "You're shipping out early."_

_She nodded._

_"I'm going to let you sleep then."_

_He was about to bid her goodnight (good morning?) when Isla reached out for him. She cupped his face and kissed him softly._

_"Goodbye, Poe."_

_..._

_All affected parties were gathered in the Control Room for Snap's debriefing. Isla was sitting a few chairs down from Snap. Poe took a seat across the table._

_Upon accidental eye contact (on her part), Isla looked away._

_While she apparently cared enough about him to self-sabotage, she needed time to figure out exactly what this meant. They had nearly ravaged one another two days ago. Had she just unwittingly assigned herself to military life? To taking orders? To having to give every ounce of herself to the cause, day in and day out? To worrying every day whether or not Poe would make it back alive? She wasn't a pilot—they would never see one another. Would this even be worth it? And what if this really was just a short-lived thing? Would she be stuck with the Resistance after they no longer felt anything for one another?_

_"Cadet Kesson provided very successful back-up."_

_Isla blanched at the mention of her name._

_"Quite the sharp-shooter." Snap continued. "She picked a guy off before anyone else even noticed."_

_A corner of Poe's lips turned upward. Isla ignored the discreet expression of pride on his face._

_"Arkanis doesn't appear to be as partisan as we assumed."_

_..._

_The second they were dismissed, Isla slipped through the throng of officers into the back corridor. Poe followed. She hadn't been able to look at him throughout the entire meeting. He needed to know what had happened._

_"Isla?"_

_There was no immediate response, but he could hear her footsteps stop._

_Poe caught up to where she stood, rubbing her face as she slouched against the wall._

_"Hey," he said, his hands finding a home on her hips. "Are you alright?"_

_"I, uh, it's nothing," Isla answered, trying to avoid leaning into his touch._

_"Isla." Poe dipped his head a little to meet her gaze again._

_"Poe." She suddenly backed away. "Stop."_

_"What's going on?"_

_"What's going on?" Her voice was shrill. "I don't belong here! This wasn't supposed to happen."_

_"What?"_

_"I was supposed to come here, do my time, and move on with my life at the first available opportunity!"_

_Poe jerked back as if he'd been slapped across the face._

_"And then you show up with your brown eyes and your booze and your flying lessons—you ruined it! I had my chance and I didn't take it, and now I have no idea what I'm doing!"_

_His heart dropped to his stomach. What was she saying? It had all been a lie?_

_"Hey." His anger peaked. "You sent that message to me. You kissed me."_

_"Yeah!" Isla jabbed her finger into his chest. "But it wasn't like I was expecting to fall in love with you or anything!"_

_"You—?"_

_"I'm just saying." She exhaled, avoiding the question. "I only wanted to be free."_

_"So you would turn your back on the Resistance?" Poe demanded. "On me?"_

_"Yes!" Isla threw her arms into the air. "At least I thought I would. But I couldn't and now..."_

What _, Poe wanted to ask._ What could possibly be said at this point to turn things around?

_"Well, I'm sorry I got in your way." He raised his hands, consumed by anger. "It won't happen again."_

_"That's it?"_

_He scrubbed his hand over his face and sighed._

_"Yeah," He shrugged. "I don't know what else there is for me to say. You don't want to be here, so I'm not going to stop you."_

_"That's not—"_

_Isla was interrupted by light footsteps approaching._

_"Excuse me, Commander Dameron?"_

_Her fingers drifted to her lips as she watched Poe. He looked at his feet and exhaled sharply before turning to the young ensign. He cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder as Isla slipped away._

_"Yes?"_

_"General Organa sent me to come look for you…it sounded important."_

_"Right. Thank you." He nodded and set off down the opposite end of the hallway._

* * *

 

 **I** sla appraised the area for a few moments as she pretended to inspect her ship. She'd been intending to refuel as soon as possible, but that thought was dashed the minute she spotted a familiar head of dark hair. Her heart leapt and the rest of her body was nearly dragged along with it.

Isla peered out from underneath the wing.

It was him.

The General had been adamant that the entire operation be discreet. There was no telling what the First Order has broadcast regarding their escaped prisoner. Poe was sure to have a hefty bounty on his head.

Isla paced for a moment before closing up the ship. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Poe made his way into the small bar. His shirtsleeves had been ripped off. His face was a little swollen and stained with dried blood. He looked out of place to her, but nobody else seemed to pay much attention. Brawls must've been such a common occurrence here that nobody thought to look a beaten man twice.

She followed him.

Once inside, Isla calmly looked around for an empty stool. The place was full—so full that she was almost thrown directly into the counter when a small scuffle broke out. As she regained her footing, she spotted an opening on the opposite side of the bar.

Now that she had a better view of him, she could see that his nose had clearly been broken. It didn't matter, though. Isla could barely contain her relief that he was here and still standing, even if he looked the way he did. They would be out of here soon and he'd get the care he needed.

Poe looked around a little, his dark eyes always returning to the cup of ale in his hands. She'd also ordered the drink, both to calm her nerves and pass the time until he found her. Openly approaching him may cause too much of a stir.

When Poe finally spotted her, his eyes closed and he sighed deeply. He shakily raised the cup to his lips in order to conceal a small smile. After a moment, he looked directly at her, eyes glistening, and tapped the bottom of his cup to his chest, just over his heart, in a serious gesture.

_I love you._

Isla nodded quickly, pretending to shake something out of her face as she looked away from him. Tears stung her eyes.

* * *

 

**_E_ ** _ver since her return from a very successful first assignment, Isla had been pushed into rigorous task force training. Her body ached every night as she fell into bed. But it was good work—it kept her on her toes and made sure too much of her time wasn't devoted to the ache in her chest._

_They'd been avoiding one another._

_Isla wanted to make a run for it during her next assignment, but the General had a sick sense of humor._

_She'd assigned Isla as Poe's back-up on an undercover mission._

_It wasn't exactly the break Isla had been hoping for._

_..._

_The morning of, Isla approached the ship to find Poe waiting alongside. She'd dressed in black, slim-fitting civilian clothing. Her hair, worn down the first time since they'd met, spilled over her shoulders and down her back._

_He forced himself to look away._

_As much as he hated to admit it, her confession had absolutely devastated him. He was happy with her—happier than he'd been in a long time. She filled a void he didn't realize he was looking to fill, and now he felt betrayed._

_"You're not going to bail on me out there, are you?"_

_Isla only glared and pushed past him._

_..._

_They'd just jumped into hyperspace when he decided he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer. She had her chance to speak. Now it was his turn._

_"I just—I can't believe," Poe started in. "That you would waste what precious resources we have on a rescue mission, only to escape."_

_He couldn't even look at her._

_"Hey." Isla shook her head. "You guys got a lot of good people out of that. It wasn't for nothing."_

_"It was still selfish."_

_She bit her cheek, unable to speak as she shook her head aggressively._

_"I vouched for you. You could've gotten me into a lot of trouble. Do you realize that?_

_"I didn't ask for you to do_ anything _."_

_"You have absolutely no regard—"_

_"I have to look out for myself," she snapped. "No one else is going to do it."_

_Poe fell silent._

_"And you're right, I shouldn't have gotten involved with you—I know that. I just kept telling myself this was nothing to you—just a fling. So I will accept responsibility for that, but it's really nice to hear how much of a jerk you think I am. I'm so happy I took that gamble and stayed. Now I'm stuck here and—."_

_"Isla—."_

_"No. Let's just get on with it so we can get back to base," she huffed. "They'll have my head if anything happens to you."_

_..._

_Isla stood up immediately once they landed and stormed over to the door. Poe followed briskly, grabbing her arm._

_She maneuvered quickly and slammed him against the interior wall of the ship._

_"Let. Go." Her eyes burned and her voice was sullen. "Please."_

_She released him, shaking her head, and walked off the ship. He trailed behind her, rubbing his arm._

_The meeting location was a cantina, because undercover operations apparently couldn't occur anywhere else._

_He entered first. Isla followed minutes after and found a seat across the bar. All she had to do was make sure he got back onto that ship. She ordered a whiskey while she kept an eye on him. He did the same. They were early. His eyes—and mind—wandered._

_What was he supposed to do with all that? She'd initiated this entire thing to break out of prison. He wanted to trust her, but she'd rather get back into whatever she'd been arrested for rather than serve the Resistance. How could this work if she refused to pick a side?_

_But then again, she had picked a side hadn't she? His side. That's what she'd been trying to tell him._

_It wasn't long before a man slid up next to Isla._

_Poe's eyebrows shot up as Isla glanced at him. A spark of jealously flickered in his stomach. She only shrugged and made a face. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he sipped his drink. Again he scanned the bar for their contact, though he couldn't help but casually glance back at Isla and her new friend._

_Isla's jaw clenched and she smiled uncomfortably at the man's advances. He kept on talking as she turned back to her drink and to the crowd. Poe suppressed a chuckle. She scowled when she locked eyes with him._

_He smiled to himself and looked toward the door as he took another sip. If this guy didn't arrive soon, he was going to be drunk and Isla was going to have that grease ball in a headlock._

_..._

_The deed was finally done._

_Their contact, Jos, had shown up and discreetly slid a small drive next to Poe's hand as he placed an order. Poe casually stretched his arms and dropped a card containing 500 credits into his jacket pocket. They sat beside one another inconspicuously until Jos finished his drink. He then got up and disappeared across the room._

_Poe waited a beat before standing and sauntering over to Isla, the last few dredges of his drink in hand._

_"I'm sorry to interrupt what looks like a captivating conversation, but I really need to speak to this beautiful woman."_

_Affronted, the man jerked his head at Poe._

_"You know this guy?"_

_Isla nodded, screwing up her face to avoid laughing. How ridiculous._

_"Yes." She polished off her drink. "My ex."_

_The man grunted and stood up, giving Poe a rough once-over before walking away._

_"Go creep someone else out," Poe muttered as he took the empty seat._

_He raised his glass as the bartender passed and asked for another round._

_"So," Poe began. "You guys going to run away together?"_

_Isla inhaled, raising her eyebrows. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off._

_"I'm just kidding."_

_They sat in silence, their glasses fresh, and surveyed the room. Isla had yet to see anything that roused her suspicions._

_"Look." Poe suddenly set his glass down with a thud._

_In response, Isla downed her drink in one large gulp. She didn't want another lecture._

_"I've never had to go through life looking at things as a means to an end."_

_Isla rubbed her face._

_"I don't expect you to understand."_

_"Please let me finish." Poe placed a hand on her knee. "I should've listened to what you were actually saying, so then maybe I could've understood. At least a little."_

_He inhaled._

_"I think...I think I was more upset that you were just going to leave, like nothing—or no one—mattered, especially after the other night...I've kind of had a thing for you since we met. I mean, there have been others, but—you know what, that's not the point I'm trying to make."_

_He looked hard at her, his brow furrowing. Isla noticed a few fine lines were beginning to form on his forehead and at the corners of his eyes. They added even more charm._

_"I know we have a lot to learn about one another, but I won't make the same mistake next time."_

_"Next time?"_

_"Yes, next time." He smiled. "Assuming you'd like to pick up where we left off."_

_"You're going to find out something you don't like again."_

_"I believe you." He nodded. "And I'm sure there will be things that you don't like about me. For instance, I do not put away clean laundry. I live out of a hamper."_

_"Stop it," she wined. Isla broke out into a tiny smile. "I'm being serious."_

_"I also take very hot showers, so...you know, no hot water left. Anyway, I'm not saying we should go get hitched right now. I just want another chance."_

_Isla studied him._

_"I've done a lot of bad things."_

_"And I've killed a lot of people," he answered nonchalantly as he polished off his drink._

_"So does that settle things?"_

_..._

_They left the bar together, ready for the long trek back to the ship. Poe nuzzled Isla's neck as he slung his arm around her shoulder. Just another casual hookup. Nobody would think twice._

_"You look really nice tonight, by the way." He kissed the side of her face._

_He was really enjoying this cover story that had fallen beautifully into their laps._

_Isla leaned into him, pressing her palm against his chest._

_"You're not looking too shabby yourself."_

_"Is this how normal people behave?"_

_"I think so."_

_They may have been a little too wrapped up in one another to notice they were being followed._

* * *

 

 **N** either could finish his or her drink. Poe nodded toward the door and Isla paid both tabs before leisurely stepping outside to follow. Her heart was pounding.

He was waiting for her behind the ship. Screw protocol.

She started running and didn't stop until their bodies collided.

"I knew you'd find me," he said into her hair as he wrapped her in his arms.

He hugged her tightly, wincing as he did, and kissed her temples, her forehead, her cheeks, her mouth.

"I was so scared." She squeezed him back, her lips running over his face just as frantically.

He grimaced in pain with every movement, but refused to let her go.

"Poe," Isla shook her head, her voice hardly a whisper. Delicately, she traced the gashes and bruises across his face. He looked like hell.

"Hey, hey." Poe cupped her face in his hands, the blood and dirt on them mixing with her tears. "Hey."

"What did they do to you?" Her hands deftly ran up and down his arms and chest, as if she could detect broken bones. Poe flinched when she touched his ribcage.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. Isla could tell he was lying through his teeth; his breathing was labored. "I just need to rest for a minute."

They held onto one another.

"Stars." Poe broke the silence as he captured her lips. He pressed his forehead against hers. "I love you so much."

She nodded silently, gently kissing his lips once more.

"Let's go home."

...

While she began to make preparations for refueling, a group of three men with blasters on their hips approached her.


End file.
